Setting Our Souls For A Mission

What does it really mean to set our faces like flint? We have heard that scripture pulled out and used so many times, it has almost become cliche, like a self motivating slogan at a pep rally. 

But, this is The Word of God, full of Power. All of His WORD is Alive and Active, made for battle and a weapon of great light against the darkness that covers this earth and mans hearts. There must be a more powerful meaning to this, and if so, it must be a concept that is a constant thread of instruction and wisdom throughout The Word and the history of Gods People.

What are the promises of obedience to this command , what are the consequences of treating it as just another cliche or powerless self motivational slogan?

Deuteronomy 28:1-14 (NKJV)


1 “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God:

3 “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.

4 “Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.

5 “Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

6 “Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

7 “The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.

8 “The Lord will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

9 “The Lord will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways. 10 Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. 11 And the Lord will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. 

12 The Lord will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 13 And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them. 

14 So you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

We can see that even in The Old Testament God promised great blessing upon His people for following Him diligently. He knew for His people to be blessed as they worked the earth, they would have to remain diligent and committed to The Covenant Protections He provided for them. 

This was not a command from a power hungry God who just wanted obedient servants, His promises, legally and spiritually, brought His people under His protection amidst an earth that was full of both natural and spiritual enemies, both working in unison to destroy all of Gods people and plans.

Throughout the Old Testament we see His People leaving the cover of His Covenant and suffering the consequences for it. We also see them returning fully, with all their hearts, set like flint toward The Lord in prayer and repentance, and being restored to blessing.

They were not aware, or at least fully aware of the spiritual enemies they had that were backing and instigating their enemies and the sin in their own camp. Their connection and access to that world was hidden and limited, until Their Messiah came to free them not only from natural enemies, but to expose and openly defeat the real enemies behind the scenes, The Kingdom Of Darkness and Satan.

Jesus came with a ministry and message that all wanted to see and experience. Many saw the miracles and authority that He and His Disciples demonstrated and were drawn to it.

Some may have thought this was a new thing that didn't require the same commitment as trying to follow the myriad of Old Testament Laws. Some may have thought all they had to do was follow this new prophet and all would be well. They may have thought following this guy will be a cake walk. However Jesus made it very clear the cost of truly walking as a Disciple.

Luke 9:57-62 (NKJV)

57 Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.”

58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

59 Then He said to another, “Follow Me.”

But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”

60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”

61 And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.”


62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Even at the very end of the age we see The Lord telling His People to be on fire for Him, to be diligent, focused, mission led and Spirit Filled. He tells them their natural state without Him and His Spirit giving them life, and He, even at the last hour, calls them to return fully and be blessed fully.

Revelation 3:14-22 (NKJV)

The Lukewarm Church

14 “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,

‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: 15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot,[b] I will vomit you out of My mouth. 

17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 

19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. 21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

22 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

So what is this mission that we are to be giving our all to? What are the better promises of the better covenant that Jesus secured for us by His own Blood? 

What mission can we only fully enter into when we have set our faces and hearts like flint toward The Lord and His Commands?

What does He promise those who "lose their lives" in order to "save their lives"? What military victories does He have for His people in the New Testament, that the battles of The Old Testament were only shadows and forms of?

Well I could copy and paste the entire Book of Acts, but instead I encourage you with all my heart to read it once again with this post in mind.

I will end with one final scripture. The Last Commission of Our Commander and King. What a great call and responsibility to join Him in His Work. 

Are we ready to forsake the things of this world fully in order to do His Will Fully? Be honest with yourself, He will help reveal and remove all that hinders us and His People, as long as we are fully engaged and set like flint toward His Face.

Mark 16:15-20 (NKJV)

15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Christ Ascends to God’s Right Hand

19 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen

Picture Message

Declare

Declare!!!


When you feel like the children of Israel
Pressed against The Red Sea!
This is what the declaration
Of your mouth needs to be!
That Jesus Christ Is Lord, over all The Earth
And by His mighty hand, your deliverance will be birthed
He is your saviour, your God, your Lord
He is your Father, who is watching diligently over His WORD!
He loves you more, than your human heart can understand
He has paid the price, with His Blood, so you could inherit HIS Land!
He has given you all things freely
That pertain to this life
He has given you Faith and Joy
To replace Fear and Strife
There is only one thing that
You must be diligent to do

That is to open your mouth BOLDLY
And DECLARE HIS WORD TO BE TRUE!

Look at bondage
And declare I am free
Look at blindness
And declare I can see!
Look at fear
And declare I am full of Faith!
Look at depression
And declare strength for the race
Then look away from the problem
And to His Glorious Throne
For in Truth and in Spirit
That is your true Home

And say

I am not weak
But strengthened with ALL MIGHT
According To His POWER
I AM WAGING AND WINNING THE GOOD FIGHT!
I AM NOT SICK
BUT THE HEALED OF THE LORD
THE HEAD AND NOT THE TAIL
I HAVE FULL FAITH IN HIS WORD!
I AM NOT FULL OF SIN
BUT WASHED CLEAN BY THE BLOOD
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS MY HELPER
EVEN AS THE ENEMY IS COMING LIKE A FLOOD

So say with me, with a shout from your heart
Say it boldly, say it loud, tear the enemy's lies apart!
I am a child of Light
A new creature in Christ!

I am Born Again, Blood Bought
And full of Power and Might!
I am the head and not the tail
Above only and not beneath
I have on His Mighty Armour
His all powerful SWORD in my sheath
In Him, I stand strong
In Him, I stand Tall
For He who keeps me

IS LORD OF ALL

I AM FREE
I AM FREE
I AM FREE

AND IN HIM WILL FOREVER BE

Rebuild Your Walls- Strengthen Your Ramparts- Restore Your Gates

2 Peter 1:1-8  (NKJV)

1 Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:

2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord has been stirring in me a desire to rebuild or strengthen the parts of my spirit,soul and body that need to be prepared for His Plans and Purposes being fulfilled in my life and The Church. At the same time our church is teaching on fighting for what The Lord wants for us in the days ahead. Not fighting as a struggle of trial, but to win and to take The Promised Land The Lord wants us to occupy.

I believe that the two go hand and hand. A time of rebuilding and fortifying our lives and a time to fight for the victory as we do. I hope the images, and words of this post, not only bless you, but help you fortify the walls of other peoples lives as well. We are one body working for a common goal to be a people that cause God to be glorified. We are appointed to have God answer our prayers in such a way that the righteous rejoice and the wicked gnash their teethe. 

Psalm 65:5 (AMPC)

5 By fearful and glorious things [that terrify the wicked but make the godly sing praises] do You answer us in righteousness (rightness and justice), O God of our salvation, You Who are the confidence and hope of all the ends of the earth and of those far off on the seas;

As we enter into agreement with The Lord about rebuilding the walls of our lives, that  have been weakened or torn down, we will face resistance. Our enemies do not want our hearts healed, the devil does not want your soul restored and strong, and even some people will not want you to place guards on the walls of your mind and body, closing the gates to their carnal way of living.

So to be successful in this Holy, God ordained mission, we must be wise builders like Nehemiah. Read the following verses and allow The Holy Spirit to speak to you through them. What enemies have tripped up your progress before? Where are there weak spots in your being that need to be guarded as you rebuild the fallen walls and restore the plundered gates?

Ask The Lord to reveal them to you. Ask a Spiritual Mentor, a Pastor, a Christian Counselor to help you see the broken things that you may be blind to.

Nehemiah 4:16-23  (AMPC)

 And from that time forth, half of my servants worked at the task, and the other half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail; and the leaders stood behind all the house of Judah. Those who built the wall and those who bore burdens loaded themselves so that everyone worked with one hand and held a weapon with the other hand,

 And every builder had his sword girded by his side, and so worked. And he who sounded the trumpet was at my side. And I said to the nobles and officials and the rest of the people, The work is great and scattered, and we are separated on the wall, one far from another.

 In whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us. So we labored at the work while half of them held the spears from dawn until the stars came out. At that time also I said to the people, Let everyone with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that at night they may be a guard to us and a laborer during the day.

 So none of us—I, my kinsmen, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me—took off our clothes; each kept his weapon [in his hand for days].

I have been a target of the enemy since before I can remember. My earliest memories, the very first memories I have, became so ingrained into my heart and soul, are memories of fear, pain, rejection and abandonment. One was a reoccurring nightmare that I began having before I can remember anything else until I was 8 or 9 years old,  the other was an event that would scar me and leave me with a tormenting "spirit" until I was into my thirties. 

I don't want to share these things here, I only mention them because these things caused cracks in the foundations of my soul. I tried for many years to fill them with so many things, even to build upon that compromised foundation with spiritual things, good things and even ministry things, but God never wants us to have a broken foundation. He wants us strong from the ground up. Your soul matters to Him. Your body matters to Him. Your mind matters to Him.  

He wants to help you rebuild what has fallen, strengthen what has weakened and restore what has been removed.

Isaiah 54:11 (NLT)

11 “O storm-battered city,

    troubled and desolate!

I will rebuild you with precious jewels

    and make your foundations from lapis lazuli.

How do we "rebuild a life"? 

How do we strengthen the "walls of our soul"?

How do we "fortify the guard towers" of our mind and life?

How do we "close the gates" of our lives once and for all to The Flesh, The Devil and The World?

By His Grace, His Wisdom and by being and active participant in His Church. Fully engaging in the study of The Word. Fully taking part in our own discipleship and growth. Making permanent, solid decisions to eat healthier, be more active and seek the help we need, and if we are honest, want , from our Pastors, Christian Counselors and even Mental Health Professionals,(Spirit Filled, Bible Believing Doctors) in order to accomplish these things.

I cant stress enough how much The Lord loves you. He paid a price we cant possibly fully understand on this side of glory in order to purchase you from darkness, Spirit, Soul and Body. It is time we yield all of our members, all of our being, all of our hopes,dreams and passions to His Plan for us and His Church.

Are you ready to close the Gates of your life once and for all to the influences that have kept you from walking in all He longs for you to walk in? Will this year be a year of amazing adventures in Christ , not just for you, but His Church? 

It is up to us to simply say YES LORD! 

I am going to end this post with these questions stirring in your hearts. Take them into your prayer place and seek The Lord. My next post will be very practical, but powerful ways for us to take every piece of land The Lord has ordained for us to take. 

Smith Wigglesworth used to repeat over and over  "FAITH IS AN ACT". 

Get ready to ACT , and watch how God brings great glory to the Name of Jesus. His Name shall be honored and respectfully feared again throughout the seen and unseen world. It will all start with His people deciding to rebuild and to fight anything that tries to stop us.

Acts 19:17 (NLT)

The story of what happened spread quickly all through Ephesus, to Jews and Greeks alike. A solemn fear descended on the city, and the name of the Lord Jesus was greatly honored.

The LORD Our Redeemer!

Sometimes scripture alone can tell a story with very little commentary needed.

We have been reborn as New Creations in Christ.

We are living, breathing Temples, that carry Gods presence into this world and invades The Kingdom of Darkness with His Light! We were creating with a purpose, a purpose that is not unlike the purpose of The Temple that once held The Ark of The Covenant, which held the very Presence of God. We know, that on The Night Jesus was crucified, The Veil of The Temple tore, and The Presence of God left that house made of wood and gold, and entered the hearts of The Redeemed.

I sense in my heart that The Lord is calling His People to rebuild His Temples.

He is calling us to sure up the place of His Abode. He is not only demanding His People take inventory and take responsibility of their Spirits, Souls and Bodies, but, He is promising to be our strength and provider to do it well. He is fully vested in helping us and empowering us to become all He sees us becoming. 

We must strengthen those places we have let weaken. We must remove those things that we have allowed to take residence in our minds and bodies that offend His Holy Spirit. We must build up again the eternal things of our spirits, and give The Lord all that we have been holding back.

The Lord is ready for His Sons and Daughters to be revealed.

Let the following scriptures speak to your heart. It is time for us to make Gods Temple a place that gives Him Honor and Glory.

Isaiah 54:11 (NLT)

11 “O storm-battered city,
    troubled and desolate!

I will rebuild you with precious jewels
    and make your foundations from lapis lazuli.

2 Chronicles 8:1-6 (NLT)

1 It took Solomon twenty years to build the Lord’s Temple and his own royal palace. At the end of that time, 2 Solomon turned his attention to rebuilding the towns that King Hiram had given him, and he settled Israelites in them.

3 Solomon also fought against the town of Hamath-zobah and conquered it. 4 He rebuilt Tadmor in the wilderness and built towns in the region of Hamath as supply centers. 5 He fortified the towns of Upper Beth-horon and Lower Beth-horon, rebuilding their walls and installing barred gates.6 He also rebuilt Baalath and other supply centers and constructed towns where his chariots and horses could be stationed. He built everything he desired in Jerusalem and Lebanon and throughout his entire realm.

Ezra 1:3New Living Translation (NLT)

3 Any of you who are his people may go to Jerusalem in Judah to rebuild this Temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, who lives in Jerusalem. And may your God be with you!

Haggai 1:12-14 (NLT)

12 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of God’s people began to obey the message from the Lord their God. When they heard the words of the prophet Haggai, whom the Lord their God had sent, the people feared the Lord. 13 Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave the people this message from the Lord: “I am with you, says the Lord!”

14 So the Lord sparked the enthusiasm of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the enthusiasm of Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the enthusiasm of the whole remnant of God’s people. They began to work on the house of their God, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

Acts 15:16 (NLT)

16 ‘Afterward I will return

    and restore the fallen house of David.

I will rebuild its ruins

    and restore it,

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NLT)

19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

Luke 4:18-19 (NKJV)

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,

Because He has anointed Me

To preach the gospel to the poor;

He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,

To proclaim liberty to the captives

And recovery of sight to the blind,

To set at liberty those who are oppressed;

19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

Jude 20-21 (NLT)

20 But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, 21 and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love.

Hebrews 12:12-13 (NKJV)

12 Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.

Philippians 1:6  (NLT)

6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.